Ner Vode
by TheyWhoWrites
Summary: Rex wakes up to white walls, white floors, and shiny armour. What could this mean? Where is he? And why isn't there a blaster under his pillow like usual? Rated M for language and violence, as well as some stuff that may or may not happen.
1. Chapter I: The Game Wasn't Over

**AN: Please read the AN at the bottom. It holds some important information. Quick note, though. The language in this one is definitely stronger in this one, but the dark stuff shouldn't be as bad as TLoHP.**

Chapter I: The Game Wasn't Over

" _Where are the enemies?" cries out one of my men as we take incoming fire from the Umbarans clad in 212th armour._

" _I don't know! I can't see anything!" another yells as the first is slammed with a bolt to the left of his face, taking him to the afterlife._

 _We're all pinned as an explosion rocks through the section near my position. I turn towards the rearguard and order, "Get those mortars up here!"_

 _A section's worth of men make their way to my placement and prepare their payloads. They fire off, and seconds later, I wince at the brightness of the explosions in the darkness._

" _Anyone have a visual?" I ask out._

" _Ah, negative. It's too dark" the scout responds. He suddenly perks up, "Oh wait! I see them! They're disguised as clones, alright."_

 _After that declaration, the men begin to sally forth, trading shots with the bleeding bastards. I also surged forward, firin with precise abandon towards the enemy. Within no time, the two sides are a kriffing mess in terms of position and flanks._

 _I hear through my comm piece, "Captain, where are you? We're sustaining heavy casualties!"_

 _I pause my firing and take cover behind some of the local fauna. Before I reply, I notice a downed trooper not too far from me, and he looks pretty banged up. I sprint towards the man, making sure not to get hit by anything as I do so._

 _When I make it over to the poor sod, I notice another dead clone atop of him, so I lightly shove the still clone away from the trooper I originally spotted. I start to worry as I notice two things. One, this was 212th armour here. Two, I see a human throat and chin. I reach forwards and remove his hel-_

" _What the!" I cry as I drop the helmet and flinch back a good few metres. That was_ not _an Umbaran like Krell said. I don't bother to draw my sidearms as I rush towards the fray._

" _Everyone!" I project my voice as loud as I can, "Stop firing! We're shooting at our own men!"_

 _I continue to flail my hands as I continue to yell, "They're not Umbarans! They're clones!"_

 _I start to see troopers from the 501st start to cease fire and look at me, "Take_ off _your helmets! Show them you're not the enemy!"_

 _I start running towards the 212th as I begin to doff my own helmet-_

==NV==

I bolt upright as I scream in my officer voice, "THEY'RE CLONES!"

I reach for my DC-17 under my pillow, and I almost lose my mind when it's not there. My head flies left to right as I take stock of my surroundings. I almost don't believe it. White walls, white beds, white floors. Even the armour was white. _Shiny white_.

I see the rest of the barrack is at full attention due to my outburst, and I can't help but notice the silent tears running down my face. All the other troopers bar one are looking at me strangely, while the one is next to my bedside holding my arm.

He speaks calmly, "Easy, Rex. It's alright. Everything's fine. It was just the nightmares again. Get lost, the rest of you, double time!"

The room clears, and it's only the trooper and myself remaining.

"Wh-where am I?" I stutter as I try and fail to ge my breathing back to normal.

"Kamino, trooper," he says softly, "We're in Officer Barracks Besh on Kamino."

"Not Umbara?" I question in disbelief as I let the tears flow.

"We're not on that hellhole anymore, Rex."

"Cody?" I sigh in relief as my eyesight clears up past the teardrops.

"Aye, Rex, it's me," he says sadly as I begin to freak out.

I push him away from me and fly backwards as I shout out, "Cody! What the kriffing hells is happening? I saw you on the hunt for General Kenobi! You died on the first Death Star-"

" _First!_ " he yells in shock, "They made a _second one_?"

"That's where I was before… _before_ …" my voice breaks as I fall to my knees.

"Before what, Rex?" Cody asks as he joins me on the floor.

"I took a blast to the side, and then I fell asleep. You know what happened after that," my voice gets quieter as I reach the end of the sentence.

"When did you come back? Cause that's apparently what happened," I say, still not believing what's going on.

"I came back yesterday, and I woke up quite like you did," he says remorsefully, "Except mine was about that day on Utapau on the last day of the war."

I nod my head in understanding. I had talked to him about the chips just a few weeks before that fateful day, and he had turned me away, citing that there was no possible way this was real.

I slowly get back up on my feet, and I help Cody do the same. He turns to the door while saying, "Let's get to the mess hall, we don't want to be late."

"For what?" I ask, unaware of when exactly we are. I know it's before the First Battle of Geonosis due to our armour, but I know nothing but that.

"It's graduation," he starts, "Then we load onto the transports with General Yoda and head to fight the bugs."

"No," I gasp, "Not again. Not for a third time. Not a _fucking third time_."

Cody takes my shoulders and stares into my eyes, "It. Will. Be. Okay. Understand? We will make it out of there, and we have will have forty eight hours to explain strategy and tactical analysis to the Generals and Commanders. We _will_ get through this with more boys than before. Now, let's go get breakfast."

I nod as I numbly follow his lead. As we exit the barrack, the rest of them officers stop chatting amongst themselves while one of them walks towards us and speaks, "Rex, Cody, we don't need to know what that was about, but if you need anyone to talk to about it, we're all here."

"Thank you, Bly," I say with a gracious smile. All of us then head to the mess hall.

We arrive to an almost full mess hall, and I say almost because the only tables not full are the three tables that us officers eat at.

We get our food and begin to eat. Shortly after, Bly, who was looking at his datapad, chokes on his drink.

He sets down the pad and motions for the other commanders at the table to lean closer. He whispers, "Don't let this spread yet, but tonight we load up for Geonosis. 99 just sent it to me that he overheard the longnecks speak to Master Yoda. The Jedi are going to have command over us for the assault."

I shake my head in disappointment, "That's unbelievable. They don't know anything about how to lead! I've on my studying, boys, and it's not good."

Cody sees where I'm going with this and continues where I left off, "They'll probably pair us off with Jedi to command our units. I suggest that we use the travel time to brief our Jedi on the dos and don'ts of strategy and tactics."

Gree nods his head in agreement before speaking up, "We'll have to spread this to the Corps commanders. We don't know who they'll be sending to Geonosis, so it'd be best to have everyone on standby just in case."

A muttering of agreements comes from the officers around me. I speak, "Aye, the more we're brothers we keep alive in the coming days, the better off we'll all be."

There is a small cheers to that. After breakfast, Cody and I split apart as we head to our respective units. I hear my datapad go off, and the message simply tells me to alert my unit to the incoming assault on Geonosis.

I reach the rendezvous point for the 501st graduates. I say graduates, but when I think about it, the only people that don't "graduate" are the clones who become Kaminoan support staff. People like 99. The rest of us are practically soldiers, through and through.

My boys are lined up nicely, and I take a position right in front of them as I notice some of faces. Many think we are all the same face, but when you have nothing but mirrors staring at you, you learn to spot the differences. Echo's eyebrows was half a milimetre higher on his face. Jessie has a slight scar above his lips from a training exercise. Hardcase's left eye is a darker shade of brown. These seemingly imperceivable details allow us to sort each other out.

I look at my men with pride in my eyes, and I begin to speak, "Alright, troopers. We've done what we needed to in order to be where we are right now. We've suffered through blood, mud, and blaster fire to become the best fighters in the galaxy, and in a couple days, we prove it to everyone.

"After the graduation ceremony, where some uppity ponce will tell us that we are the proud men of the republic, we will board the Acclamators and head off to Geonosis. In the two days' journey the officers of every unit involved will be going over tactical plans with both the men, and the jedi who will be leading the assault."

I pause momentarily before speaking once more, "I will not lie to you, troopers, some of you will not return to the ships come the end of this. Some of you will not make it off the gunships entering the planet. I know this, and now, you know too. I don't expect you all to be super soldiers, but I do expect you to keep and eye on each other and keep yourselves alive for as long as you can.

"What we are about to do, we do not for the Republic, but for the men, women, and children who are a part of it. We fight so they won't have to, and I'll die happily knowing that."

The men, who were stoic during the first few minutes, all applauded as I finish my impromptu speech. I know that the Kaminoans and Palpy would not approve of my last two sentences, but there aren't here right now.

My boys talk amongst themselves as a couple of clones approach me.

"Sir, Kix, Chief Medical Officer of the 501st," the man introduces himself before doing the same for his comrade, "This here Medical Officer Jesse."

The troopers salute, and I return it before asking, "What can I do for you, gentlemen?"

Kix gestures to a corner of the room where other clones aren't around, and we make our way over there. Kix says quietly, "Sir, I need to ask about this morning. I know that Commander Cody said not to worry about it, but several other officers have asked me to see to you, just in case something is wrong. So, what happened?"

"Nothing but bad dreams, trooper," I start, "Nothing but bad dreams."

"Sir, I'll be frank and let you know what I know. I know you woke up screaming 'they're clones', I know you searched for something under your pillow, and I know that it took Commander Cody to calm you down enough to become coherent. I _need_ to know what the hell is wrong," he finishes sternly.

I toss it around inside for a few moments before responding, "I'll need to talk to Cody. It's something that only he is aware of, and I want his opinion on how I should proceed. Is that acceptable?"

Kix and Jesse look at each other before they nod. Kix replies, "As long as you get to us before we land on Geonosis. No one but clones know about this, and I'd like to keep it that way."

I put offer my hand as I say, "I appreciate that you're doing your jobs. I wouldn't want an unstable man leading my boys."

They offer salutes, which I return, then they head off.

A few minutes later, the PA goes off. The mechanical voice booms, "ALL UNITS PROCEED TO LOADING DOCKS. REPEAT, ALL UNITS PROCEED TO LOADING DOCKS. TAKEOFF IN THREE HOURS."

 **AN: Alright, so this is going to be the second story I work on alongside TLoHP. This is heavily inspired by** _ **Dominoes**_ **by FFN user Meridianpony. The author of that story is going on a year hiatus, so I decided to write something in the spirit of that story. There are definitely going to be things that differently, and I will try to keep it as original as I can for a fanfiction. As I finish this AN, I'm about to start Chapter IX for TLoHP. These will be posted when both are done, and both will be updated weekly. This week as well as the next are finals and term papers, so I am stressed and overworked, but I will try my damnedest to update both stories when I can. There will be a similar AN in Chapter IX of TLoHP.**


	2. Chapter II: Prepping for War

**AN: I know that last chapter had some typos, I'm simply too busy to correct them at the moment. Sorry. Note, I'm also HEAVILY playing with canon because it makes some things easier for me. I'm a very descriptive writer when it comes to armies and navies.**

Chapter II: Preparing for War

It seems to me that Venators haven't left the Kuat drydocks yet, so the 501st Legion, 212th Attack Battalion, and Aurek Legion of the 327th Star Corps are all sharing the Acclamator-class assault ship _Vengeance_.

We have just lifted off of Kamino, and Cody, Bly, and I are in the conference room awaiting General Secura. We don't have to wait long as the doors open and she stops at the head of the table before addressing us, "Officers, I hope you are all doing well. Let's get onto what we need to talk about."

Since we were the ones that summoned her here, we get to be the ones to start the conversation. Bly speaks first, "We'd like to go over some tactical and strategic planning for Geonosis. We have your plans, but we've spent the past nine years doing nothing but formulating plans, and then executing them."

He pauses before asking, "Do you mind if I ask what experience you have leading significant forces in large scale conflicts? I ask this in order to find out how much we should go over before Geonosis. My brothers are talking to the other Jedi right now."

I notice a slight bit of nervousness disappear as quietly as it came forth as she answers the question, "The most I've led is about three squad's worth of men in battle. The Senate decided that the Jedi must lead this army of theirs, and the Council couldn't simply refuse. Between us four, I don't know what I'm doing. I've never been taught how to lead 20,000 men into war."

I look at Cody and plead, "Please, Cody, please tell me you have the datapad with the plans we made on them."

He holds it up and hands it to me. I plug it into the holotable before projecting the contents and explaining, "Us three made plans just before we boarded the ship this morning. The current plan for the army is to meet the enemy in a mixed unit war on open ground. Infantry, tanks, air support, it's all going to happen on a flat field with zero cover. I'll tell you now, we can expect fifty percent casualties if we do that. We came up with this.

"There are three target specifications: the arena, the factories, and the control ships. We expect to have atmospheric and orbital superiority when we land the ships, so the plan has airstrikes and Acclamators bombard the control ships and the less defended factories. Next is the arena. We don't have to worry about that one because the 41st Elite Corps under the command of General Unduli and Commander Gree are going to be leading the rescue."

Cody takes over from here, "The last objective we have to worry about is the remaining factories. We have elements of the 7th Sky Corps, the 212th, the 501st, all four legions of the 327th, as well as ten commando squads under our control. We have over 70,000 troopers under our command, and there's about another 250,000 additional men taking part in the assault. We have the numbers and the time to be careful and watch our steps."

I look and Aayla and speak softly, "Ma'am, we all know what's going to happen if we don't change plans. Men will wake up tomorrow, go down the boarding ramps, and more than half of them won't climb back up the way they came. We have plenty of ATTEs and LAATs to assault the factories we need to, and the commandos are going to work together to take out the three most heavily defended ones. In this plan, your role is up to you. Fight in the front, lead from the rear, do a mix, it doesn't matter. Cody, Bly, and I will be on the first gunships out, however."

She looks at the datapad for quite a few minutes. She scrolls throughout the entire plans for Geonosis before setting it down and speaking to us, "Alright, these plans are the ones I will support. They are better thought through than the ones the Council came up with. I'll contact Master Unduli and some of the others to sway them over."

On her way out, she stops and says, "Thank you for bringing this up, gentlemen. Any lives saved is a win in my book."

She leaves, and the door closes. I look at Cody and Bly, and I lean on the table, breathing in deeply, "I was so scared that wouldn't go that way. I was so scared that things were going to be like-"

I cut off once I realise what I was saying. Bly notices and askes, "Like what?"

I look and Cody and tell him, "Well, I was going to have to tell Kix and Jessie due to this morning. Why not tell Bly?"

Cody thinks about it before agreeing, "Sure, let's tell him. It will make things clear."

"Alright, I'm worried now," He says nervously.

I take a breath before telling him, "You know how I woke up screaming this morning? It was due to two things: nightmares, and PTSD-"

"How the kriffing hells do you have PTSD?" Bly exclaims, "The war hasn't even started yet!"

"I have PTSD because I already lived through this bantha shite before. Lived to be around fifty, then I took a stray bolt to the side," I close my eyes as I finish.

"Wait, you're telling me that-"

"Yes, Rex and I came back after we died years from now," Cody interrupted him, "Last time, we went through with the original plans. We lost almost 200,000 good men during the attack, and another 10,000 were lost during the occupation. Then we had to go back a second time because the Seppies took it back. The second time was worse than the first, and we attacked with more men. Lost more, too."

Bly's eyes are wide in shock, "What happened with the rest of the war?"

I eye Cody, and he nods. I say, "We technically won the war. I say technically because the leader of both sides was the same person. Sidious leads the Separatists from the shadows. You know him as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine."

Bly gasps, "No! Tell me… Just no! No!"

I nod solemnly, "Yeah, that's how I felt the day the war and Republic ended, and the day the Galactic Empire rose."

Bly looks disgruntled as he asks, "Do you know what happened to… you know?"

"No, I don't," Cody says, "After your report from Felucia, I never heard from or of you again. Anything could have happened. Wolfe went with Rex, and several others were lost during the Jedi Purge, as it became to be known as."

I get fed up with this conversation and say, "Alright, that's enough. Later tonight Cody and I will put what we know on a data pad and pass it to you. It _will_ have heavy encryptions on it, so I don't want you passing it out to every other trooper you see. We need to start small, and Geonosis will show us if what we do matters."

The other to nod in agreement, and ody and I go on to meet with Jesse and Kix.

==NV==

It takes a little while to find them, but after checking the 501st medical bay, we see Kix talking to Jesse.

"- telling you, Kix, something is wrong with the scans I'm taking. I'm picking up interference in the parietal lobe in _all_ of the men."

"Are you using different machines? It could be a technical error."

"I've used every scanner we have in this bay, and they all tell me the forced be damned same thing! There is _something_ there."

I cough, and the two of them startle and snap to attention before Kix says, "Sir, are you ready for our talk?"

"Aye, trooper. I brought Commander Cody from the 212th with me. He has some insight into the problems I have."

Kix and Jesse lead us to an empty conference room made for the medical staff. He tells us, "The next med meeting is in two hours, so we will have plenty of privacy."

I start telling them the same thing we told Bly. I trusted these two back in the day, and I find that I still trust them. After the story is finished, Jesse holds up a finger.

"Wait a minute," he says hurriedly, "Do you know what I'm picking up on the scanners. I know you overheard most of my spiel at the end there, so tell me I'm not crazy."

I sigh, and Cody follows suit as I say, "Those are the inhibitor chips that the Kaminoans placed in us to follow the 150 secret orders that only the chancellor and Kaminoans know. The funny thing is that the generals are allowed to issue about half of the orders, including the one specifically made to go after the Chancellor himself. They just don't know any of them."

Cody continues, "Order 66 is the one where everything changed. It states that the uppermost echelons of the military are to be purged due to treason or treachery. The people who happen to be considered the 'uppermost echelons' happen to be the Jedi and their padawans. Our goal is the eventual end to Palpy and this war. I'd like the GAR to be the proud organization it is now, not some army for an evil ponce."

Jesse and Kix have somber looks on their faces, and I understand completely. It's not everyday two commanding officers come down and say that the entirety of one's existence is a lie.

Kix looks to Jesse before saying, "Locate the fekking chip, and make plans for its extraction from our brains. After Geonosis, we are clearing _everyone_ in this force damned _fleet_! Understood?"

"Aye sir!" replies Jesse, "Crystal clear, sir!"

Kix turns back to Cody and myself, "I'm still not a hundred percent positive on you going to battle tomorrow, but I have no other choice. Don't get our men killed out there, sir. I don't want flashbacks to be the end of good troopers."

I offer my hand to shake and say, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Kix. I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two medics leave the room, and Cody says to me, "I forgot just how much I missed having brothers around me. It's refreshing being able to say something and having it be believed. I can't remember how many times some bastard in Imperial Command turned away my advice and warnings due to me being a clone. It was infuriating."

I put an arm around his shoulder as us brothers do and say as we walk out, "That's our lives, brother. Infuriating, maddening, and too much bantha shit to deal with. We take what we can, and everything else we say fek off."

==NV==

I bolt upright gasping and pointing my pistol at the wall in front of me. There aren't many other troopers awake, but those that are notice what just happened.

One comes over and says, "Sir, it's alright, we're all friendlies here. No need for the pointing. We won't have to deal with the Seppies until tomorrow."

Still panting, I rest my head on the arm holding my blaster and ask, "Thanks, brother, what's your name?"

He straightens as he replies, "The name's Hardcase, sir, lieutenant of Fourth Platoon, Cresh Company. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, trooper," I say quietly, "It'll pass eventually. I'm just having nightmares about what might happen in the coming weeks."

"Weeks? There's no way we'll be there that long," Hardcase says incredulously.

"That's war for you, trooper. Something that's supposed to last a day will last a month, and something that's supposed to last a month will last a day. That's just how it works. We'll lose brothers tomorrow, and we'll lose brothers the day after that, and after that, and keep on doing so until we either come out victorious, or until the Seps take Kamino. They take Kamino, and we lose. Simple as that."

I see Hardcase nod in understanding, and he heads to his bunk to put his armour on. I ask, "Why the armour?"

He replies stoically, "I'm about to hit the sims. If we're going to lose brothers, I'm going to make sure we lose as little as we can. If anyone looks for my platoon, tell them we're in simulation bay three."

I nod, and he makes his way out of the barrack. I push myself off the bed and don my armour. After clipping my helmet to my side, I put the DC-17 that was on my bed and put it in the holster on my right.

I speak into my comms, "Captain Rex to Torrent Company, get your arses armoured up and meet in front of simulation bay two. We're going over squad and company tactics before breakfast."

==NV==

I see 144 men stand before while my command staff stand beside me in front of bay two. I speak clearly and with conviction, "Boys, I know we're all hungry, and that's the point. The coming days aren't going to give us time to eat peacefully. I want you all to be able to keep your heads on an empty stomach, and we're starting off with squad cohesion drills.

"First and Second platoons, you'll hold the north and east, respectively. Third and Fourth will hold the west and south. We're going to be completely surrounded, so watch your backs. That's the only hint you're going to get before we go in. Afterwards we'll watch the recordings in your platoons, and I'll convene with your lieutenants about what they found. Let's do this troopers!"

"Hooah!"

I open the bay doors, and my company sets up in the center. We have ATTEs and LAATs in a circle, and the men set up quickly. As soon as the last man readies his blaster, the Seps attack. The room, which looks more like an open mesa on Geonosis, is rapidly filled with shouts and blaster fire.

"Watch your right, Lang!"

"Get down!"

"Medic! I have a man down!"

"Seventy degrees up, left! Bug!"

I weave left and right in between the legs of one of the four ATTEs. I'm having to spend most of my time dodging instead of firing, and I barely avoid all the shots coming my way. An explosion rocks the battlefield, and I quickly learn that it was the south ATTE that just blew, taking half of Fourth platoon with it.

My second in command, Lieutenant Tup starts yelling in the comms, "Third platoon, shift Dorn Squad dow to Fourth platoon's position! They're not holding well."

"Aye aye, sir!" the ordered squad makes a gun run to the wrecked ATTE where the start to help the remaining survivors of Fourth platoon with the bugs and droids.

My comms beep as a voice comes through, "Second platoon to command, we've got armour coming in, and the ATTE is not enough to handle it. We need heavy weapons immediately."

I order, "First platoon, Cresh Squad, have your two rocketeers head to the east entrenchment. Second has company knocking."

"Yes, sir!" the two men take their rockets and reinforce the east side. I'm still firing into the enemy masses when a soldier next to me takes one to the helmet and goes down. A second trooper checks his vitals and shakes his head before continuing to fire his DC-15A towards the bugs.

"Cover me, I'm reloading!" shouts a trooper at one of the rear legs. Two brothers right next to him begin opening up as he puts in a new charge battery. He's back up and firing before anyone else goes down.

My right blaster beeps empty as I holster it and pull out my DC-17S to replace it. I always had that problem. I favour my right hand too much in heated battles, and right now counts. This is going to be a long fight.

==NV==

It's noon ship time before we get out of the sim bay, and all of the men have their helmets off and MREs in various states of being eaten. I assemble the twenty NCOs as well as Tup and start a discussion as we eat, "Alright, men. Where did we go wrong? It took six hours, but we still got wiped out to the last man."

Third platoon's LT speaks up, "We were worn down after the first three hours of fighting, and losing half my platoon during the first hour wasn't helpful."

"What are you going to do differently next time?" I ask the LT.

"Position my squads more dispersed than I did. I chose the ATTE to be the bastion, and it backfired when a good shot hit the reactor."

"What else went wrong, brothers?" I look around.

Fourth platoon, Besh Squad's leader points out, "We were cocky and expectant. We all assumed this would be a quick hour, two at the most, before it was finished. After the fourth hour, my squad started feeling defeated, and it led to some boys getting hit as they realised we wouldn't be making it out of this one."

Another squad leader continues where he left off, "I took a stray bolt to the back early on in the fight. I can't even say I did anything wrong with that one. I couldn't protect both my front and my back, so I decided to protect where I would be firing. Both sides can hit lucky shots. This just proves that."

We continue on like that for a good ten or twenty minutes before I ask a question that silences all the men, "Alright, brothers. Tell me, where did _I_ go wrong with this assault?"

Tup stares at me, and I can see it click in his mind as he starts talking, "That's just it, sir. This wasn't an assault any more. It may have started out like one before the sim began, but we started the sim on the defensive. When you're on an enemy planet, you can't be on the defence. The enemy has what is an essentially limitless supply of resources, while we only had 149 men."

He pauses before continuing as he looks into my eyes, "Sir, why didn't we use the LAATs to escape while we could at the beginning?"

I clap my hands and exclaim, "That was _exactly_ what I was looking for. Why the hells did we not leave when I knew we were going to be killed to the last man? Why did I have us sacrifice ourselves for seemingly nothing? The reason is this: I wanted to see who would realise that the orders were suicidal in the sim.

"None of you dared to question why I ordered us to be slaughtered, and none of you pointed out that the LAATs could have been used to get us out of there and back to friendly lines. We were behind enemy lines with four tanks and four gunships, and I decided that we needed to survive the incoming waves of enemies. Only, I knew we wouldn't survive because I set the sim to 'survival' mode. The sim only ends when all of us are dead. It was always a lost cause. I just wanted to see if any of you would have pointed it out. So, men, what did we learn?"

Second platoon's lieutenant answers, "If it looks like we're all going to die, pull out. No objective is worth an entire unit being wiped out. We can always plan better than this. Air support, heavier armour, more men, even orbital bombardment can be used to deal with situations like these."

I nod as I smile, " _Exactly_ , trooper. Now that we have that out of the way, take a look at your data pads and see if you can improve the plans any more than we did. Commander Cody, Commander Bly, General Secura, and I will take a look at them and incorporate the best into tomorrow's invasion. Good luck, gentlemen."

Torrent Company disperses back to their usual routine, and I see out Cody for a chat.

==NV==

I find him on the other side of the ship with his men in sim bay four. There are only six bays on the ship. Three located on the port side, and three on the starboard side.

He notices me, so I start talking, "What did you come up for them this time?"

"The defensive circle at Point Rain," he says, "They we just got out of the bay, and we're about to discuss what could have gone better."

"Damn, your men survived longer than mine did by an hour or so," I say in mock disappointment, "I did the exact same thing, except I made it so that way the sim ended when the final man got hit. We were in for six hours. After twenty minutes of discussion, Tup finally pointed out that we should have evacuated before the first blaster fired."

Cody looks at me with horror his face, "You had your men go through ARC hell? Before Geonosis?"

ARC hell is exactly what I did. The ARC trainees would be placed in a sim bay and have to survive as long as they could. The record from my past life was seven hours twenty four minutes. Being able to survive six hours with a bunch of shinies was astonishing on so many levels.

"Yes, I did, and we were able to survive one hour shy of the Kaminoan sim bay record. That's a win in my book. I currently have my officers looking for ways to improve the plans we have for tomorrow. We'll review them tonight with Bly and the General to see if there are any worth implementing."

Cody gestures to his officers who were several metres away, "Would you like to join in on our discussion? It's exactly like last time, including the airstrike that led us to victory. The biggest difference was that the men were not as cautious as last time, and we lost double what we originally did."

I accept Cody's invitation and listen to his men discuss the downfalls that happened. One states that the men were slacking ever so slightly due to it being a sim. Another says that moral was nonexistent at the end because no one knew an airstrike would be coming. Cody then tells them that, while he knew one was coming, he had no idea when it would be coming.

For half an hour the 212th, Cody, and I talk about what could be done instead. At the very end, a certain Waxer speaks up, "Sir, why did we need boots on the ground?"

Cody looks at him bewildered, "Because we had a droid factory to wipe out. We needed men on the ground to do so."

Boil sees where Waxer is going and asks, "Sir, why didn't we just bombard the factory with our starships? We had orbital and aerial superiority, and we had no reason to endanger the men. We lost two thirds of our battalion because of this plan. Turbolasers work just as well as ATTEs and men on the frontlines."

Cody and I both smile as Cody replies, " _That_ , trooper, is what leaders are supposed to do. Whenever you go into a fight, ask yourself if there is a better way to decrease casualties of your men and civilians. If it's a world like Geonosis, and no one on the planet can be considered civilian, why not bombard the area from orbit? There's no reason not to, and I'll tell you this: Rex and I will be speaking to the Jedi tonight to implement this."

==NV==

Cody, Bly, Secura, and I are in the same conference room as we were last time. I start the conversation this time, "Ma'am, Cody and I would like to bring up an idea with the Jedi."

"Alright, Rex, shoot," she says, and I pull up the hologram detailing the factories we want destroyed.

I point out something interesting, "Ma'am, none of the factories have shielding. Why waste the lives of men when we could simply bombard the areas from orbit. The only place where we _need_ boots on the ground is the arena for the rescue mission. What do you think?"

"What about civilians?" she asks, and I moan on the inside at her innocence.

"Ma'am," Bly says, "With respect, there is no such thing as a civilian Geonosian. They all listen to the higher ups, and every last one of them would die in order to our men killed. I'll tell the Council personally if you want me to."

For thirty eight seconds she thinks before she finally speaks, "Alright, Commanders, Captain, let's call the Council."

She punches in the holo address for the rest of the Council members, and they flash into existence quickly.

Yoda is the first to speak, "Master Secura, wish to speak, you do? Listen closely, I will."

"Actually, it is not I who wish to speak, but the officers aboard my ship have brought forth good ideas to save the lives of our men," she tells the grandmaster.

Cody, Bly, and I relay the same information, and Windu is the one to ask the first question, "How sure are you that no one should be considered a civilian, Captain?"

"Absolutely, sir," I respond vehemently, "The Geonosians are fanatics when it comes to the orders of their hierarchs. They are already sided with the Seppies, so any Geonosian able to hold a weapon will be trying to take us out."

Ki-Adi-Mundi asks worriedly, "Even so, I find this to be quite an… extreme option. Surely they cannot be that-"

Cody looks at the Jedi with a stone hard expression, "Sir, when was the last time you faced people who wholly believed that the extermination or destruction of you and your people was not only ordered, but the will of your gods?"

"What? I don't quite understand-"

Bly steps forth, "Sir, the Geonosians will want all of us clones dead because we are clones. We are an abomination and an affront to their gods and beliefs. Any clone within five metres of a Geonosian is as good as dead. When we're involved, there's no such thing as an innocent Geonosian. Unless you want to go it alone, I don't have any other options that won't result in fifty percent casualty rates."

"Fifty percent!" exclaims Eeth Koth, "Surely you are mistaken."

"No, sir," I start, "He's not. We are going into enemy territory where we will already have the disadvantage. Now you want us to go into their factories, the ones which are connected to their _nests_ _underground_. We will have infantry and infantry alone down there. It'll be the biggest bloodbath since the Jedi-Sith War. I don't know about you, generals, but I don't believe that we should waste lives of men."

The Council looks at each other for several moments before Aayla speaks, "Masters, if I may, I believe that the Commanders and Captain are right on this. We were the ones who accepted the positions of leadership, so we should be the ones trying to save the lives of our men, not worrying about being peacekeepers. We can't be keepers of the peace if we are at war."

"Right you are, Knight Secura. Lives of our men, where peace is nonexistent, more important than keeping peace they are. Disagree, does anyone?"

Coleman Trebor lets out, "They are _clones_ , they exist for this purpose. Why should we risk hitting civilians just to save a few of our own?"

I see Cody and Bly's faces show anger, and my left hand is clenched. Aayla definitely notices our feeling about the scumbag in front of us. She speaks scoldingly, "Master Trebor, don't you think that to be harsh? They are flesh and blood, just like you and I. I see no reason for our plans to simply waste the lives of _men_ , no matter your distaste for them."

"Agree with Knight Secura, I do. Bombard from orbit, we will. Master Trebor, work on your biases, you _will_. Ask, I must. At the arena tomorrow, accompany the rescue forces, are your men able to do?"

Aayla looks at us, and after we nod she says, "Yes, Master Yoda, we will be able to join Master Unduli's forces tomorrow."

"Then speak afterwards, we shall. Fine men, you have. Fine leader, you are becoming."

The hologram flickers off, and Bly mutters loudly, "Is that guy always a dick?"

He looks at the general with shock written on his face, as if he didn't mean for that to be said aloud.

She simply chuckles, "You're not wrong. Master Trebor has always been against _any_ form of fighting. He is actually well renowned for his ability for negotiating peace. It is no wonder that he has a disliking for you and your brethren. Your existence goes against everything he has tried to prevent."

"Ma'am," I start, "Thank you for your help both today and last night. The rest of the men can sleep more easily tonight knowing tomorrow won't be as bad as we feared."

"It is no problem, Captain. I might not have the experience you wish I had, but I know that men are important, and losing them is never a good thing," she responds darkly. Her eyes fade out of focus for a second before snapping back into focus.

"We appreciate it, General. And, please, it's Rex," I say with a nod.

"Cody," he offers his own name.

Bly smiles along, "Bly, then."

"Then call me Aayla. It's been too long since I had anyone but my master call me that," she smiles at us before leaving.

"She's going to be a good leader come tomorrow," Cody says. I happen to agree with him.

Bly asks, "How do you know?"

"Because she cares more about us and the rest of the men than her rulebook the Council gave her," I respond warmly, "She understands that the Jedi haven't been warriors since the Ruusan Reformations, and she's adapting to the current circumstances."

"Alright," Bly mutters before speaking up, "Let's hit the sack. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. We also have to tell the men about the change in plans."

==NV==

I stand amongst the officers and tell them our new orders, "Alright, boys, new orders. We're going down with Master Unduli and the 41st to the arena tomorrow. Expect heavy resistance, and watch your aim. It's going to be packed tight with both friends and foes. You don't want to be known as the trooper who accidentally hit another brother. _So watch your damn aim_. Make sure your units know"

"Yes, sir!" comes the reply, and then we all head off to our bunks. I place my right blaster under the pillow, then pray to the force that I can sleep peacefully.

 **AN: Wow! 5k words! I didn't expect that many, but I'm happy with this chapter. I know that Acclamators don't actually have sim bays, but come on. They could definitely fit six bays in there. It's a pretty big ship. Most people don't realise just how big sci fi ships are. 752m long, 460m wide, and 200m tall can fit a helluva lot of things.**

 **AN2: This story is no longer going to updated weekly, it is going to be updated whenever I get a chapter done, which will be periodically. I apologize for the tardiness, but I've been going through some troubles.**


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